Is God a Lousy Judge of Character?

Is God a lousy judge of character? At first blush it would seem so. Take
a closer look at the twelve Jesus commissions to represent him. There is Peter
-- hardheaded, explosive, and impetuous. In another place Jesus calls him "the
rock" but more often than not, Peter behaves more like a "clod."1 James and John, who evidently were so
volatile that Jesus gave them the nick-name "Sons of Thunder."2 Matthew, not only a tax collector, but
thereby also a collaborator with Rome. Thomas, with his "show me"
attitude. And finally, at least one, if not two of the twelve were zealots
(today we would call them terrorists in pursuit of their political-religious
cause), Simon from Cana, and possibly Judas who, of course, ended up betraying
Jesus.3 It's quite a cast of
characters; not likely candidates to be Jesus' representatives, not to mention
saints. Does Jesus have a flaw of his own, is he a lousy judge of character?

Or consider our first lesson today. After being promised a long sought
son, both Abraham and Sarah laugh in God's face, Abraham in the chapter
immediately preceeding today's lesson, and Sarah in the one we have heard today.
What is going on here? Last week we heard how Abram and Sarah, as models of
faith, responded to God's command to go from their home and kindred to a new
land. But between that lesson and this one, twenty-five years have passed.
Though God continued to repeat the promise that Abraham and Sarah would be the
ancestors of a multitude of nations,4
still they were childless. In desperation, Sarah had tried to force God's hand
a bit. She gave her Egyptian slave-girl, Hagar, to be a surrogate wife, so that
at least her husband would have an heir. But the backlash of that lapse of
character has continued to reverberate through western religious history. Even
today, the ancient prophecy that Ishmael would be contentious and constantly at
odds with his kin, emerges in our headlines with disturbing regularity.5 Trying to force God's hand can have
lasting and unhappy consequences.

Abraham tries to make the best of it. Thirteen years later, now nearly a
hundred years old, with a ninety year old wife, the promise seems absurd. He
suggests to God, that Ishmael is good enough6
-- interesting the kinds of settlements we are ready to make, when we start
doubting God. But Abraham and Sarah have become so resigned to their situation
that the future and promise which had accompanied their going forth from Harah
to Canaan has now faded into the background. With the promise unplausible, they
are ready to settle for what they already have. Sure it falls short, but they
no longer seem to care.

Does that sound all too familiar? Aren't we all a bit like the two of them
-- we hear the promises of the gospel, but the challenges of living with them
day in and day out make us a bit like Abraham, we want to negotiate for
something a little less demanding. Tired of the struggle, we'd like a little
more clarity. We have our own notions of what abundant life looks like, and it
has more to do with success, comfort, and less stress, than with living out of a
daily relationship with God, trusting God in all circumstances. Interesting the
kinds of settlements we are ready to make when we begin to doubt God's promise.

But God has other ideas. Abraham and Sarah will have a son. As absurd as
it sounds to Abraham at the moment, God tells him to name the child Isaac,
meaning, "He laughs." Now, a few month later God has returned in the
guise of the three travelers, and announced that the promise is nine-months from
fulfillment. Eavesdropping behind the flap of the tent, Sarah does some
laughing of her own, but is startled out of it when God asks this question:
"Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" It is the question
which is not only at the center of this lesson. It is the question which
reverberates across every other page of scripture as well. Is anything too
hard, too wonder-filled, too difficult? Is anything beyond God's power? Is
there anything God cannot do?

What do you make of the question? It's the troubling one which lies at the
foundation of all faith. Have you ever spent any time contemplating its
ramifications? If you say, "Yes, some things are too hard for the Lord,"
then either you do not believe the Lord witnessed to in the Bible is God, or you
have never really understood what lies behind the word "God" in the
first place. In the words of English theologian J.B. Phillips, your God is too
small.

If, on the other hand, you accept what the question suggests -- that there
is nothing beyond God's ability -- then you must begin to wrestle with what it
means to live in the world with such a God. What does it mean to entrust
ourselves, not just here on Sunday, and not just when some crisis arises in our
lives, but each and every day, in good times and in bad? What does it mean to
be in relationship with the One who is both the source and the goal of all
things with power to do all things? If you think about that long enough it is
either the most terrifying thought you've ever had, or, the most thrilling. In
truth, it is probably both! Living in relationship with a God for whom nothing
is impossible begins to take on awesome implications.

At first, it sounds as though anything -- everything -- can be ours simply
by asking. But, as one commentator reminds us, faith does not make everything
that might be desirable to us, possible for the asking simply because God does
not promise us everything. God has promised us life in abundance and power for
living it, not everything we ask. What God does promise, what is possible, is
what corresponds to God's purpose for us.7
Faith, is not a cosmic connection which enables us to get our way in all
situations. Faith is living with God in such a way that God's desires for us
become our own, that God's purposes for us become our own.

One other word about this. For those who say, "but doesn't the Bible
promise to give us what we ask in Jesus' name?"8
remember this: if the Father could say "no" to the Son in Gethsemene,
do not be surprised at the "no's" which come from God in your own
life. God knows what is at stake in our lives, something, by the way, you and I
rarely know. God knows what really needs to be done. You and I only know what
seems good to us at the time. Put another way, self-interest is a most
unreliable standard by which to chart one's life much less make requests of God
for whom nothing is impossible. Does that mean we are not to ask God for
things? Absolutely not! Are we to pray for healing? For outcomes to
particular dilemmas? Absolutely! But in asking, we are to believe even more
strongly still, that if God says "no" it is only because the granting
of the request would be too soon, not good enough, or somehow limit what God yet
has to do in and through our lives. God loves us too much to give us everything
we ask of him. God gives us what we need.

Is God a lousy judge of character? Absolutely not! God knew exactly who
Abraham and Sarah were -- better than they knew even themselves. Perhaps that
is why God took so long to fulfill the promise -- so they wouldn't take credit
for Isaac themselves, or come to doubt that it really was the fulfillment of
God's promise but only a biological coincidence. For God also knows how ready
you and I are to take credit for the good things that happen in our lives.
Still, God was working through Abraham and Sarah to bring the covenant people
into being.

Jesus knew exactly who the twelve were -- knew Peter's impetuous behavior,
Thomas' "show me first" attitude, Simon's propensity for violence,
Judas' duplicity -- yet chose them from among all who were following him, and
sent them forth with power to do the work he had come to do. You and I would
have insisted on looking at a few more dossiers. Jesus was up to something
better. Knowing full well their weakness, their character flaws, their
shortcomings, he called them, sent them forth and worked through them,
transforming them in the process. Knowing full well your weakness, my weakness,
our character flaws and shortcomings. Jesus calls us, empowers us, sends us
forth, and in the process transforms us.

For finally this is not about our character. If it were, God
indeed would be a lousy judge of it. God knows exactly who you and I are --
again, better that we know even ourselves. But this is not about our character.
This is about God's character. God's desire to redeem us does not
depend upon our character, but upon God's character, God's desire to redeem --
all of us! God's desire to bless us, is not dependent upon our ability to
conceive of it, but on God's character, which is to bless. God's desire to heal
and make us whole is not dependent upon our faith, but upon God's character --
faithfulness. To paraphrase Paul in today's epistle lesson, "God proves
his character in that while we were still weak, still estranged, still divided,
still in rebellion, still anything but godly -- while we were yet sinners --
Christ died for us."9

But God's character does not stop there. God continues to prove that love
by pouring it into our lives through the Spirit, to empower us for our work, to
change us in the process, and to make us into the people God has promised we are
destined to be. Like Abraham and Sarah, it may be hard for us to conceive. We
may even laugh at the idea. But God, true to God's character, continues to
work.

The promise, as outrageous as it sounded, as scandalous as it seemed, was
only nine- months from fulfillment. Three chapters later we read, "The
Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son
in his old age. [They] named him Isaac. ... Sarah said, "God has brought
laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me,"10 Do you think she knew God was
laughing as well, and may just still chuckle when thinking about it?

So, where does the promise of new life seem to fall short for you? Where
in your life is the promise so obscured by circumstance that it seems laughable?
Are you trying to force the promise by taking matters into your own hands? Are
you trying to negotiate a settlement which is really second best? Hear this
good news: as outrageous as it sounds, as scandalous as it seems, God's promise
is unfolding within you. God knows who you are, what it is you most need, and
is at work this very moment to give it to you, not so much because you deserve
it -- you may or you may not -- but because it is God's desire, God's character
to do so. Sound laughable? Is anything too wonderful for God?

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Matthew 16:17-23

Mark 3:17

Whereas Simon of Cana ("the Cananaean")
is identified as a zealot in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13, some today suggest
that Judas himself may have also been a part of the zealot's party, who after
the
entry into Jerusalem, either became disillusioned with Jesus and simply betrayed
him, or more likely, thought that in handing Jesus over to the authorities,
Jesus would then be forced to act, drive out Rome, and establish the kingdom.

Genesis 17:4

Genesis 16:12

Genesis 17:15-19

This is the meaning of "asking in Jesus'
name."

John 14:13. The essence of praying or asking
in Jesus' name, is asking for those things which will align our lives with
God's life.